Business park holds economic promise

Officials say Tracy project has potential for S.J. County as a whole

STOCKTON - A long-developing plan to build a massive business park on the outskirts of Tracy moved a step closer to realization Friday with approval to annex the Cordes Ranch area into the limits of the south San Joaquin County city.

STOCKTON - A long-developing plan to build a massive business park on the outskirts of Tracy moved a step closer to realization Friday with approval to annex the Cordes Ranch area into the limits of the south San Joaquin County city.

On 1,796 acres of land west of Tracy and along the south side of Interstate 205, the planned project could bring tens of thousands of jobs in the years to come and be an economic driver for Tracy, the county and beyond, officials said.

"And right now, that's what we need," said Bob Elliott, a member of the San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo). "I think it's a very significant project for the region."

LAFCo is the panel that oversees ordered growth in the county and is made up of county officials. Elliott also is a member of the county Board of Supervisors, representing the district that includes Tracy. He said the Cordes Ranch park fits in with wider plans to attract business to the county. "It will tie in very nicely with our efforts to market San Joaquin County as an extension of the Bay Area and Silicon Valley."

The Cordes Ranch plan also calls for 89 acres of parks or open space. The remaining acreage breaks down to 27.8 million square feet zoned business industrial park, 2.5 million square feet general office and 592,000 general commercial. There are no residential areas.

It was intended to be a "jobs trap" along the I-205 corridor, said Bill Dean, Tracy's assistant director of development services. And it's the culmination of years of planning, from the city's General Plan to coordinated infrastructure planning to the creation of the specific plan, itself, including a rigorous environmental report, he said.

With LAFCo's approval, local permits can be issued within the plan, he said.

Earlier this month, the Tracy City Council approved the plan. On Friday, it was approved by LAFCo without a dissenting vote on the commission or opposition in the public hearing.

Commissioners spoke briefly about the agricultural land that would be lost to the development, but the consensus seemed to be the land was not as viable for farming as other land in the county. "The land, by comparison, for agricultural purposes, is pretty marginal," said Mike Maciel, a commissioner as well as a Tracy councilman.

The city also requires payment of mitigation fees used to preserve farmland.

The planned park is south of, and adjacent to, I-205. Shulte Road is the southern boundary. From the previous western boundary of the city, it stretches west past Mountain House Parkway.

It's part of the growth and economic recovery that is happening in south county, now, but will spread north, said Larry Ruhstaller, LAFCo chairman and a county supervisor who represents the Stockton area.

"It will work its way up," he said. "It will eventually work its way up to Stockton."